Global Compact on Refugees: How is this different from the migrants’ pact and how will it help people forced to flee? Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The terms ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ have been used interchangeably to describe the millions of people worldwide that are either fleeing conflict or seeking better …
Read More »HRW denounces Angola’s expulsion of 400,000 Congolese
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A global rights watchdog on Thursday called on Angola to halt mass deportations after more than 400,000 migrants mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo fled or were expelled from Angola in just weeks. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says migrants have been targeted in …
Read More »African growth key to stemming migrant flows: Merkel
Prague, Czech Republic | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech premier Andrej Babis agreed Friday to focus on economic development in Africa to try to slow migration into the European Union. “We are both convinced that we must achieve a win-win situation where the economic development of African …
Read More »DR Congo threatens international action over Angola expulsions
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday threatened to take international action over Angola’s recent, and allegedly violent, expulsion of some 200,000 illegal migrants from its west African neighbour. DR Congo invites the Angolan government “to carry out a thorough investigation in order to …
Read More »Ugandan migrant regrets running away to ‘paradise’ in Spain
Uganda’s Kashamba: For migrants in Spain, survival means squats, odd jobs Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Francis Kashamba got 10 euros for a 14-hour day and Lamine Sarr survives as a street vendor. For these illegal migrants in Spain, Europe has proved to be more of a purgatory than the …
Read More »Gambia ex-president accused of ordering 50 migrant deaths
Accra, Ghana | AFP | A paramilitary unit controlled by former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh was accused Wednesday by rights groups of being behind the killings of more than 50 West African migrants in 2005. Human Rights Watch and TRIAL International said they interviewed 30 former Gambian officials, including 11 …
Read More »Libyan coastguard prevents NGO boat from rescuing migrants: AFP
ON BOARD THE AQUARIUS, Undefined | AFP | The Libyan coastguard on Sunday prevented a rescue ship belonging to two NGOs from approaching a boat in distress carrying migrants, an AFP photographer witnessed. The Aquarius, chartered by SOS-Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was informed by the Italian coastguard of …
Read More »Five migrants die off Morocco as Spain searches for more boats
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Five migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean, the Spanish coastguard said Thursday after rescuing more than 180 others, while they searched for another two boats with dozens aboard. Rescue boats, helicopters and planes from southern Spain carried out a series of rescue operations …
Read More »Merkel denounces new anti-Semitism from Arab refugees
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced the emergence of “another form of anti-Semitism” from refugees of Arab origin in Germany, in an interview with Israeli television broadcast on Sunday. “We have a new phenomenon, as we have many refugees among whom there are, for example, people …
Read More »11 migrants dead, 263 rescued off Libya coast: navy
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | At least eleven migrants died at sea and another 263 were rescued on Sunday in two separate operations off the coast of Libya, the country’s navy said. In the first operation, “a coastguard patrol… was able to rescue 83 illegal migrants and recovered 11 bodies …
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